For the past 10 years peripheral blood has been the norm as a source of matched related and matched unrelated adult stem cells for transplant because, despite the higher risk of GVHD, they are easier to harvest from the donor, they can be stimulated to grow in large numbers prior to harvesting, and they engraft, or set up shop, quickly inside the recipient's body. (fredhutch.org)

It was led by former Hutchinson Center transplant physician Claudio Anasetti, M.D., who is now at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. It found no difference in two-year survival, faster engraftment and less graft failure, but a significant increase in chronic GVHD, when patients were transplanted with stem cells derived from peripheral blood. (fredhutch.org)

SEATTLE - Oct. 17, 2012 - One of the world's leading bone marrow transplant experts is recommending a significant change to current transplant practice for patients who need marrow or adult stem cells from an unrelated donor to treat hematologic malignancies. (fredhutch.org)